RELSA (Recognised Language Schools Association) TEFL was founded in 1991 as a training course for those in the Irish Republic wanting to teach English as a foreign language. However, Britons have increasingly taken to crossing the Irish Sea to get their TEFL qualifications because RELSA is so cheap.

Schools that teach RELSA charge only about £200 (250 Irish punts) for courses that typically last for three weeks - seventy hours of lessons and practice. This compares very favourably with British TEFL equivalents, for example, International House in London, which asks £970 for its four-week course. Nor are entry requirements too strict. Theoretically a student should be at least 21 and have finished third-level education. In practice these requirements are often waived.

The one big failing of RELSA, in respect to British TEFL courses, is the little time given over to teaching practice. A friend who trained in Britain was assessed while teaching for about six hours. In my RELSA course I 'taught' other TEFL students for one hour - an inevitably contrived situation - and real students for only 45 minutes, in three fifteen-minute units.

Some RELSA courses are even worse in this area. I heard of one school where there was teaching practice only with fellow TEFL students - probably because there were no foreign-language learners available. This is clearly something to ask about before enrolling.

The final mark - an A, B or C - is given on the basis of teaching assignments, an exam and an interview after the course. Standards in RELSA are high and less than five percent of students receive an A. I have no figures for the pass-rate, but in my group about a third did not finish the three weeks or failed outright.

Someone who wants to dedicate his or her life to TEFL and wants the best training possible would be well advised to look for a weightier certificate - something that, in private, my Irish teachers admitted. However, RELSA is internationally recognised and language schools abroad are not usually fussy about which particular TEFL qualification their teachers have.

This, at least, was my experience while recently looking for a teaching job in Spain. None of the school-directors that interviewed me commented on the fact that I was RELSA-trained; they were interested simply in my grade. For those who plan to work in the sector for only a few years, or who are not sure, RELSA could be the perfect launch pad into the world of TEFL.